Pro 3 Battery Life

[iainf61]

I recently purchased and set up 2 Arlo Pro3 Cameras (with Hub) after our catalytic converter was stolen while the car was on the drive.

Set up was straight forward, I have one camera at the front of the house and one at the back. But battery life is very poor 4-5 days for each camera, which is no good enough as they wouldn’t last if we go away for any length of time.

The hub is wired into my broadband router

Camera 1 at the front of the house, approx. 8m from the Hub with a couple of walls between it and the hub. I've set activity zones to ignore passing traffic on the street so only picks up people actually entering our front garden.  Less than 5 minutes of recording each day. (it's set for vehicles and people). This camera also randomly drops off the network though at other times has a good connection.

Camera 2 is at the back. Approx. 5m from the hub with one wall in between. I usually turn it off during the day and it has less traffic but battery life is no better than the one at the front (set for people only) .

I've read that poor connection can cause battery life to reduce. It looks like the hub creates it’s own WiFi network, is it possible to locate the hub somewhere away from the router by using a Wifi Extender with an Ethernet port?

Any other tips on improving battery life?

Thanks

[iainf61]

To answer my own question I've just tried plugging the hub into a Netgear extender on the first floor which moves it away from the router and closer to camera 1. Seems to have worked though too early to say if it's fixed either of my problems 

[jguerdat]

Yes, use of an extender to allow the hub to be more suitably positioned relative to the cameras is a good choice. However, other things can get in there making the location problematic. The distance to your cameras seems fine but objects on/in the walls as well as 2.4GHz wireless interference can cause the signal quality to drop. Another possibility is the house construction - stucco uses a wire mesh that effectively blocks the signal, for instance.

Try moving the hub away from your router as a first attempt. You can also bring a camera closer to the hub for testing to see if battery life improves.

[MVT]

get the 25' magnetic power cable.  install once, then don't worry about battery charge.

[iainf61]

Thanks - We have 1920s brick-built semi-detached house, not huge. Having played around with an extender and different locations for the hub I'm now getting about 10 days of battery life. - I'd hoped for something a bit more as it wouldn't be enough to leave the cameras on if we go away for a 2 week holiday. 

[iainf61]

Thanks - it's a thought, but rather defeats the point of a wireless camera and would mean I'd have to drill holes on the walls. But it might come to that  

[MVT]

you can go with the solar panel option, but that is more costly than a power cord.  either way you are no longer climbing ladders to change/charge batteries (is that a feature or a benefit?).  The arlo system is more about the convenience of the internet infrastructure.  all of the devices require power, and power usually requires a wire somewhere.....

[WestieOk]

Sounds like a good idea but there’s no where to plug in that’s less than 50ft. Don’t want extension cords laying about as it is supposed to be non intrusive. People said they charged these every 6 months when I was purchasing Could it be settings? I try to turn down sensitivity but it’s back the next day.

[StephenB]

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@WestieOk wrote:
 I try to turn down sensitivity but it’s back the next day.

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Then you are applying the setting in the wrong place.  You can use the motion test to determine the best setting - but that is just a test.  You then need to go into your rules, and apply that setting in the rules.

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@WestieOk wrote:
People said they charged these every 6 months when I was purchasing

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It all depends on the amount of video the camera is streaming to the cloud each day, and the quality of the wifi connection.  Every time the connection drops, the camera starts looking for the base, and that increases battery drain.

Reducing motion sensitivity can help.  So can adjusting the field of view - so it doesn't cover the street traffic for example.

Setting activity zones and smart notifications won't improve battery life, as neither reduces the amount of video being streamed from the camera.

[iainf61]

It's really dissapointing. 10 days is nowhere near the advertised up to 6 months. I can't see any other changes to make (I've turned off animal detection in settings for both cameras, yet they still record every passing cat.)  I'm thinking I need to try and return them and try Ring instead.

[StephenB]

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@iainf61 wrote:

 (I've turned off animal detection in settings for both cameras, yet they still record every passing cat.)  

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As said above, smart notifications won't improve battery life (and they don't reduce the recordings anyway).

The only options are to reduce motion sensitivity, adjust the field of view, and inverting the camera.  Inverting the camera can work out well when pets are being captured (because the PIR sensors are more sensitive to motion at the bottom of the field of view).

In my experience, adjusting the field of view works out better than adjusting sensitivity.   

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@iainf61 wrote:

10 days is nowhere near the advertised up to 6 months. 

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I hear you on this.  I've never seen anything close to 6 months on the Pro-3 - but I do get much better battery life than 10 days.  It would be good if they set a more realistic expectation on this.

FWIW, one option with the Pro-3 and Ultra is to get the extended battery.  I do get excellent battery life from my Pro-3 floodlight (which uses the same battery) - and the Pro-3 should do even better, since there is no flood. 

[iainf61]

I'd be happy with 4 weeks!

I'll try more tweaks.

But I've also gone back to Amazon (where I purchased) who have passed me on to Arlo support. I'll see where I get with that.

[iainf61 · Accepted solution]

Just to close this off - having spoken to a very helpful technical support person, I'm now getting better battery life.

• Go to Mode
• You Hub should show as Armed - select that
• Edit 'Armed'
• For each device
  • Check if it's detecting audio, you probably want to turn that off
  • Edit Detects motion to set Motion Sensitivity. It defaults to 80% but 40-50% should be fine
  • Make sure you save.

My front camera which was lasting 10 days now losing less than 1% of battery per day.

But I'm still trying to find a location for the Hub that gives both cameras a decent signal, the back one with the weaker signal is draining much more quickly.

[ogxm]

As this thread is mostly about battery life, this reply is rather the closest to my recent issue.

All of my cameras are powered. My Pro 3 cam began reporting low battery life a few days ago and is now working but showing the battery in the red.

The good thing is that they work while connected and electricity is present.

Question: what is the spec'ed battery life for a camera that is continuously connected to an electrical source?

[StephenB]

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@ogxm wrote:

Question: what is the spec'ed battery life for a camera that is continuously connected to an electrical source?

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Arlo doesn't spec it, but they do suggest leaving the battery in the camera when you power it.  That allows the system to continue operation if the power to the camera is disrupted somehow (for example, if the cable becomes detached).  That does suggest some overcharge protection.

That said, you can remove the battery, and the camera will still work.  If you live in an area with extreme temperatures, then removing the battery can be helpful (eliminating shutdowns for safety when it gets too hot or too cold).

FWIW, I do have two cameras that are always powered, and I've just left the batteries in.

[ogxm]

Thanks for getting back to me.

From what you describe, it looks like the battery in my Floodlight (that's really the correct model) is simply worn out and no longer holds charge. I purchased these cameras at the same time and only the Floodlight is now showing this state.

I hope that now that the cameras are on steady electrical source, I'll see much better lifetime.